A Favorite Memory of Don Braunagel
Back in the '80s, Don and I drove to L. A. to see Peter Brook's Mahabharata. Based on the longest poem ever written, the performance began at 11:00 a.m. and -- after several intermissions and a dinner break -- ended …
Foggerty's Fairy at Talent To aMuse
What if you could drink from a vial and erase a piece of your past? Blot out an untoward error. Try the road not taken. Of course, revising even a smidge of history could have unexpected consequences. Like a "butterfly …
Don Braunagel: 1939-2011
After battling cancer for almost three years, my dear friend Don Braunagel died June 3. He was 72. Don recorded his journey in a blog on the site "Caring Bridge." Though he called himself "Indomitable Don," he fought with such …
Becoming Violet Weston
Lois Markle quit smoking in 1974. To play Violet Weston, the matriarchal monster in the Old Globe's August: Osage County, she must smoke eight cigarettes each performance. "The smell's disgusting," she says. But since Violet ranks among the most demanding …
Ten Cent Night at Moxie Theatre
Hewitt Finley, the famous country singer who wrote "Ten Cent Night," just committed suicide (you can see the bullet hole on the wall of his home). Folks who knew him can't decide which — the song or the suicide — …
The Music Man at Lamb's Players
Lamb's has a summer season lined up, and the cast for Meredith Willson's wonderful tribute to Americana probably has other obligations. It's too bad the company couldn't put the near future on hold. It looks to have a monster hit …
A Chorus Line at San Diego Musical Theatre
I'd seen enough Chorus Lines, I thought, to eliminate all surprises: which stories will be affecting, which of the 24 auditioning dancers will make the final eight, even most of the jokes. What came as a surprise, as I watched …
What is a dramaturg?
Shirley Fishman, dramaturg at the La Jolla Playhouse, and one of the best in the business, describes her tasks. "I was doing it before I ever knew what it was. I was part of a New York company doing a …
Rounding Third at Scripps Ranch Theatre
Don and Michael coach a Little League team. Dictatorial Don, an ex-ballplayer with an injury-shortened career, says fun means winning. Kinder, gentler Michael, a businessman who couldn't tell a fielder's choice from a fungo, disagrees. Fun lies in the playing, …
Literary August: Osage County, vol. II
Tracy Letts prefaces the published version of August: Osage County with a quotation from Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men. It may not apply to every parent/child relation, but it shines light on Violet Weston and possibly husband Beverly …
Theater or Theatre?
Both mean the same thing. So why the different endings, and which is correct? "Theatre" is the British spelling. Like "shoppe" and "colour." Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, preferred spelling words the way they sounded. He also advocated an "American" …
Raisin' the Rent at Ira Aldridge Players
People used raise the rent parties to pay the rent. These began in Harlem in the 1920s. Entertainers performed for free. You paid at the door - often up to 25 cents - and the joint would jump. Calvin Manson …
Acting in 2100
I read Michio Kaku's Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives in 2100. It was like watching a 100 car Coastliner with a prediction in every window - and the sun at your …
Flower Drum Song at San Diego Asian American Rep
When he refashioned this piece in 2002, David Henry Hwang subtitled it "A Musical Revival in Concert." So you expect tuxes and evening gowns and performers, shielded behind music stands, singing the greatest hits of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1958 original. …
Literary August: Osage County
It's as if Tracy Letts put preservatives into his play. He quotes poets whose words make more sense after the performance. Johnna, the native American caretaker, quotes T. S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men": "This is the way the world ends/ …
The Making of Cabaret
Cygnet Theatre's acclaimed production closes this weekend. Word has it that the show has grown a good deal. How the musical grew is a story in itself. Joe Masteroff planed a simple, ultimately sad book musical: a love story between …
By Design
In theory, a set should never dominate a production. It should serve the story and give focus to the actors. At first glance, David Zinn's set for August: Osage County at the Old Globe breaks the rule. It looks like …
Talk About Drama!
The Padres' game yesterday had all the elements of high drama: practically insurmountable odds, bleak conditions, and a thrilling note of redemption. Problem is: if a playwright wrote the script, few would believe it. Going into the seventh, the Pads …
What Was Prospero Thinking?
At the end of Shakespeare's The Tempest, old Prospero abandons his magical powers and sails home to Milan. He had his enemies assembled on an island. He could have avenged all wrongs but chose mercy instead. Now, as he heads …
Word of Mouth: The More Things Change...
Some critics don't like to admit it, but the most influential voice for selling theater tickets will always be word of mouth. Friends recommend a show to friends. The words and enthusiasm are immediate. According to marketing researchers, 20 years …